To become a successful trader you must have some kind of method or system to follow that will keep you on track. You may be buying and selling on tips, the weather or phases of the moon (there is a system like that).

The two basic methods are based either on fundamental or technicals. In stock the fundamentals take into account sales, gross profit margins, net profit margins, industry growth, management capabilities, price/earning ratios, etc. In technical analysis you would be computing various moving averages (such as 200-day, 50-day 10-day) of the stock price, trend lines, Fibonacci retracement, support and resistance levels, Elliott Waves, stochastics and many others.

There are scores of systems for sale and you can pick and choose among them to see which one suits your bank account and personality. Your choices will range from long-term to day trading. One thing for sure